Board Should Review Police, Residents Say

A citizens review board must be created in Orlando to investigate complaints against the police and ''heal the wounds'' caused by the shooting of a fleeing robbery suspect, residents said Thursday.

Such a board is an ''absolute, indisputable necessity,'' the Rev. Joe Flores told an Orlando citizens group studying the city's policy of firing at fleeing felons.

''If this commission comes up with anything short of that, then their labor will be in vain,'' Flores said at a hearing at Dr. James Smith Neighborhood Center in southwest Orlando.

The 11-member task force was created by Crime Commission Inc., a group of community and business leaders, at the request of Orlando Mayor Bill Frederick after an Orlando police officer shot and killed Keith Rozier, an unarmed robbery suspect, in January. The task force will decide if a permanent citizens review board should be created.

The group, which hopes to make recommendations in June, has been listening to experts on the fleeing felon law in recent weeks, but Thursday night the public got a chance to have its say. Another hearing will be held May 29.

''The shooting of Keith Rozier did more than kill an innocent black man. It wounded our whole city,'' Flores said. ''And if you still hear anger and hurt and bitterness, it is because we as a city are still bleeding.''

Flores also called for a complete review of Orlando police hiring and promoting policies and said officers should receive training to detect racist attitudes.

The Rev. W. D. Judge, chairman of the justice committee of the Orlando area's Interdenominational Ministerial Alliance, said a review board should have the power to subpoena. ''That is no bogyman for police to fear,'' he said.

Barbara Bey of Orlando argued that most people stereotype black males in their late teens to early 30s as criminals.

''Some police officers believe that shooting a black male is just like shooting a rabbit,'' said Bey, who has two sons and five grandsons.

''On the other hand, the Ted Bundys and the men who kill FBI agents are not suspected of being the criminal type because they don't meet the profile. They are able to murder, rape and pillage at will. . . .

''I don't want them the police to be the judge, jury and executioner of any more black children,'' Bey said.

Florida law lets officers shoot at fleeing felons, but most departments have more restrictive policies. After the controversy over Rozier's death, Orlando Police Chief Fred Walsh suspended the portion of the city's policy that allowed officers to shoot at certain fleeing felons while the task force reviews it.

Dr. Leonard Holt, president of the alliance, said no one can rest until fleeing felon laws are changed permanently ''in Orlando, the state of Florida and across the nation.''

''The police's role should not be one of deciding the guilt or innocence of the suspect. . . .

''Keith Rozier was denied his day in court by the hand of law enforcement,'' said alliance president Leonard Holt. ''This constituted nothing more than a legal lynching and like in so many lynchings of the past, it was not discovered he was innocent until after his death.''

Orlando police Sgt. Paul Huffman, agreeing that the state law should be changed, said the community must decide if it wants police to catch suspects at the scene or risk letting them go in hopes of catching them later. ''My officers would like to know. The department would like to know.''

He said the use of deadly force had ''psychologically ruined'' three of his colleagues. ''Nobody wants to be in the position of using deadly force, but we are faced with the task of apprehending people.''